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Disqualifying



From Window Dressing, March 19th, 2023:



Ex-Gov Ehrlich tells Howard County Republicans they still have a chance.


This photo accompanies a piece on Maryland Reporter entitled “Ex-Gov Ehrlich tells Howard County Republicans they still have a chance.” (Len Lazarick, Maryland Reporter, 3/12/2023.) The caption for the photo reads:

Former Republican Gov. Bob Ehlrich on the stairs speaks to a crowd of Howard County Republicans during a Feb. 25 fundraiser at the home of Marleen Eck, far right, in Glenelg. Next to her is the county's GOP Chair Beth Lawson. 

Well, it looks as though Howard County Republicans are taking an interesting chance in this election by running just about no one. It’s hard for me to say if this is because no one wants to run or they do but they don’t like their chances. The national face of the Republican Party has done Howard County no favors. Many, many local residents do not want what he is selling: selfishness, cruelty, racism, violence.

This does not mean that the hocolocal Republican organization (machine?) doesn’t want to influence the outcome, however.

I find myself in a position where I want to be extremely blunt about the current political race. I don’t make a habit of this. It’s very, very tricky. Watch me try to do that now - - it’s a tightrope walk, to be sure.

If one of the Democratic candidates has clearly become the darling of the Republicans - - I think that’s extremely telling. Especially since their means of showing support has been to smear and play dirty politics against the other candidates in a way that puts their own ideological agenda on display.

Moral bankruptcy is a term that comes to mind.

If winning means accepting that kind of support with open arms then it means you probably are not who you have claimed to be. If I were running for office and it became apparent that those kind of people thought I was their friend I would either: 1. clearly and openly repudiate them or  2. withdraw from the race.

Republicans have made a big deal through the years out of the idea that they are “values voters.” I must say that their values have been on display during this race. There’s no mistaking what they value.

But Democrats have values, too. I have values.

I want a leader who believes that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are for ALL and who leads accordingly: in both who they are and what they do. For me, there’s absolutely no compromising on this.

I don’t know if this would be as true in other times or in other elections. But right now what we stand for is so crucial. In Howard County, in the year 2026, to be the Democrat who is the Republicans’ first choice is, to me, completely disqualifying.



Village Green/Town² Comments 




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  1. Julia A. McCreadyJune 22, 2026 at 5:12 AM

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